Airship life-preserver.



L. L. HILL.

AIRSHIP LIFE PRESERVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1912.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

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W m w L. L. HILL.

AIRSHIP LIFE PRESERVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1912. 1 4t2 39 Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

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entree STATES T @FFTQE. I

. LESLIE L. HILL, F LOS'AN GELES, CALIFORNIA.

AIRSHIP LIFE-PRESERVER. v

Angelefsfcounty of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented a newand useful Airship Life-Preserver, of which the following is aspecification.

My object is to produce a safety device which maybe put on and worm by apassenger' on an airship, or the like, so that in case of accident; thepassenger may jump free of the'airship and safely descend; andmy'invention consists of the novel features herein shown, described andclaimed.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is'a fragmentary side elevation of an airshipshowing a plurality of my"a'i'rshiplife preservers in position for use.Fig. 2 -is a fragmentary end elevation of an intermediate section of theairship, the view being taken on the line 22 of'Fig;"1,'that is, upon aline where the sections'join. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspectiveshowingthe entry to the passenger car with the life preserver harnesses in theseats ready for use. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of one of the seats asseen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 4 in Fig. 5. Fig. 5is'a vertical cross section on the line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is ahorizontal sectional detail showing a plan of one of the spring clipsand taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a vertical crosssectionaldetail showing a parachute frangibly held in a sheath, the view beingtaken on the lines 77 of Fig. 1 and on a plane parallel with F ig. 2.Fig. 8 is'a view in elevation showing two passengers who have jumpedfree of the airship and are descending under the protection of theparachute.

Referring to the drawings in detaillrthe.

passenger car may be made up in sections 1 and 2, said sections 1 and 2being joined on the line 3, and the gas bag may be made up in sections 4and 5, butting together on the line 6, so that when the section 2 of thecar and the section 5 of the gas bag are removed an end view looking inthe direction indicated by the arrow on the line 22 will appearsubstantially as shown in Fig. 2. The pilot and machinery house 7 ismounted on top of section 1 of the car. The passenger car section 1 hasdoor openings 8, and seats 9 and 10 are placed facing each other, one oneach side of a door opening 8.

in airship life preserver harness 11 is placed upon each seat and thedetails of this Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ea; eaters.

Application filed June 6, 1912. Serial No. 702,076.

harness are as follows: A canvas pass is made up to form the seatportionjIQ 'and the side portions 13 and 14 having armholes and 1 6, andthe back portionl'? extending upwardly from the seat portion andconnecting the rear edges of the side portions l3 and 14. Air bags 18areinser tedin the seat portion 12 and in the side portions 13 and 14around the armholes 15 and16 said air bags being connected together andan air valve19 is located above the armhole 15 sothat the passenger mayinsert the stem of the air-valve in his mouth and inflate the air bagsto the desired extent. The supporting cords 20 and 21 extend upwardlyfrom the side portions 13 and 14 and have loops 22 upon their upperends. Arms 23 and 24' extend forwardly from the wall above the seats andspring clips 25 and 26 extend forwardly below the arms 23 and'24. Theloops 22 are placed upon the arms 23 and 24 and the cords 20 and 21 arepressed backwardly into the clips 25 and 26, so that the arms and 24will sustain a downward pull, and so that when the passenger'isin'position in the harness and raises the har' ness from the seat the cords20 and 21 will pull out of the clips 25 and 26 and the loops 22 willpass free of the arms 23 and 24. The clips 25 and 26 are substantiallyalike and each comprises leafsprings 27 and 28 rigidly mounted at theirrear ends and pressing together near their forward ends, the extremeforward ends 29 a.nd'30*be1ng turned outwardly to form an entrance loctween the springs so that the cord' 21 will snap in and out between thesprings. Cords 30 and31 lead through the loops 22 and are joinedtogether and a single cord 32 leads -from the junction to the parachutering 33.

' In Fig. 3 I have shown two harnesses connected to a single parachute.Straps 34 and 35extend forwardly from the centers of the side portions13 and 14 and pass around the passenger and secure the harness to thepassenger. The passenger sits upon the seat portion 12 and places thearms through the armholes 15 and 16 and secures the straps 34 and 35together so as to secure the harness to the passenger ready for instantuse in case of accident.

Strips of canvas 36 are secured to the gas bag 4, so as to form sheathsfor the parachute covers 37, saidsheaths being open at their lower endsbut otherwise closed except for a very small hole at the upper end, soas to' protect the parachute from sun and rain. The netting 38 coversthe, upper half of the gas bag and a rope 39 forms the lower edge of thenetting. The ropes 40 extend from the rope 39 and are attached to thebottom of thecar 1 so as to support the car. The parachutes 37 areinserted upwardly into the sheaths 36 and frangible cords 41 areconnected to the tips of the parachutes and pass through small openingsin the upper ends of the sheaths 36 and the upper ends of the cords 41are attached to the rope 39.

i The lower edge of each parachute cover 37 is connected at one side tothe gas bag netting by frangible cords 42, so that when the parachutepulls out of the sheath the cords 42 will hold one side of the cover andpull that side of the cover toward the gas bag while the remainder ofthe parachute cover is being pulled downwardly and outwardly, therebystarting the parachute to open. The usual cords 43 are connected to theribs of the parachute cover and to the ring 33:

It is obvious that harness might be provided for each parachute but Iprefer to provide two harnesses for each parachute, so that thepassengers will go inpairs in order that one passenger may assist theother and in order that only half as many parachutes will be required.

The cords 32 pass from the harness out through the upper part'of thedoor opening 8 and the parachute ring 33 is mounted or located upon thewall outside of and above the door and the cords 43 are long enough toreach from this ring 33' to the parachute cover 37 when the cover is inthe sheath 36. Whenever, for any reason, the passengers desire to leavethe car, they will simply rise from'the seats 9 and 10, carrying theharnesses with them, pass through the door openings 8, and jump-free ofthe car. When the weight of the passenger, (or passengers,) comes uponthe parachute, the frangible cords 41 will break, the parachutes willstart downwardly out of the sheaths 36, the frangible cords 42 will pullthe near sides of the parachute covers toward the' gas bag and start toopen the parachutes and the cords 42 will break and the passengers willdescend under the protection of the parachutes. If the passengers lightupon the ground the air cushions will protect them from injuriouslmpact, and if they land in water the air bags will cause them to 7float.

The details of construction may be varied in many ways without departingfrom the spirit of my invention as set up in the fol-. lowing claims.

1. In an airship life preserver, a sheath open at the bottom; aparachute cover mounted in the sheath; frangible means connected to thetip of the folded parachute cover, and frangible means connected to oneside of the lower edge of the parachute cover, so that when theparachute cover is pulled downwardly out of the sheath the parachutewill start to open before the last mentioned frangible cords break.

2. The combination with an airship, hav

ing a gas bag and netting and a passenger car, of a parachute sheathformed upon the gas bag and open at its lower end; a parachute adaptedto be inserted upwardly into the sheath; frangible means holding theparachute in the sheath; frangible means connecting the lower edge ofone side of the parachute cover to the airship; a harness adapted to beput on and worn by a passenger; and a connection between the barness andthe parachute, so that when the passenger jumps free of the airship theparachute will be disconnected and forced open as it is pulled outofthe, sheath.

LESLIE L. HILL.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. HUN'rsBnneER, BERTHA MoMAsrER.

